Tuesday, July 15, 2008

To Not Tango


It has been long since I've written. And it is with great sadness, I confess, to reveal that I have not been tangoing as much as I could, as I should, as I would like to. Life got in the way. And life continues to get in the way.

However, the good news is that I went to the Chicago Mini Tango Festival, Stone Soup Festival, the Denver Memorial Day tango festival, and just recently finished the Chicago Tango Week festival this past 4th of July. And I saw friends from far and wide, friends from BA, from Sweden, from Turkey, from Houston, San Fran, NY and all over. We all live in a surreal world when we come together to celebrate, to cherish, to dance and hold each other in our arms.

And also good news: I ran into no ex lovers. And I will not run into any potential lovers either. No. I will not say never, but am highly hesitant to ever date a tango dancer, to be lovers off the dance floor. Tango is too surreal, too unstable, too intangible a love, too emotional and too strong to ever be grounded in reality. Those who tango and love in one basket must live in an ever long dream.

But the sleepless nights, the early brunches, the hugs and the kisses, hosting friends and friends hosting me - they are exquisite. To me, it is a crème brûlée and strawberry glacé come to life. The sweetness is a thing to behold. To dance until my feet can no longer hold me up, the have my heart sing with the music and my body soar through veils of exhaustion.

No matter how much life gets in the way. I will never give up tango.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's great to have you back, Sappho! What an interesting post. So, your body "soared through veils of exhaustion." I wish I could say the same for myself during Nora's Tango Week, but by the end of Saturday's milonga I was stumbling through my exhaustion.

I met so many awesome people, though--it was all worth it.

Anonymous said...

After almost 12 years dancing, I too can say that no matter what life throws at me, there will always be Tango in it somewhere.

Anonymous said...

What a great post.
And a great reminder. I'm almost at the point of giving up tango, mostly because of lack of foresight (yup, I was in that one basket you spoke of). But, tango calls and I must respond, with some artful dodging.
:-)